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Carlo Gambino
| Row 3 title = Birthplace | Row 3 info = Caccamo, Sicily | Row 4 title = Died | Row 4 info = | Row 5 title = Criminal career | Row 5 info = Crime boss, Mafioso, Mobster, Rum runner, Businessman, Racketeer | Row 6 title = Notoriously known for | Row 6 info = Boss of the Gambino crime family }} 'Carlo "Don Carlo" Gambin0'o, (August 24, 1902 - October 15, 1976) was a Sicilian mafioso who became boss of the Gambino Crime Family, that still bears his name today. He was one of several national bosses gathering at the 1957 Apalachin Convention. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive. Gambino lived to the age of 74, when he died of a heart attack in bed, "in a state of grace", according to a priest who had given him the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He had two brothers, Gaspare Gambino, who later married and was never involved with the Mafia, and Paolo Gambino who, on the other hand, had a big role in his brother's family. Life in Sicily Carlo Gambino was born on 24 August, 1902 in Sicily. Gambino had a well family but most of his family members were involved in The Mafia and grew up liking them all. Gambino soon became involved with Don Vito Cascioferro who controlled Sicily and he became Carlo's idol. Carlo soon dropped out of School to become an Associate of The Sicilian, and with his family connection he served Don Vito. Gambino would ruin a shop which failed to pay their tribute to The Mafia in Sicily, and later Gambino was involved in murder for Don Vito and to senior members of The Italian Cosa Nostra. At 19, Carlo became a Made-man and was inducted in Palermo but later moved to America. Life in America In 1921, Gambino smuggled to New York and lived in Brooklyn which was paid by The Castellano's who were his cousins. Paul Castellano was involved in The American Mob and introduced Gambino to senior members. Carlo shortly became heavily involved in Racketeering in New York and later when Alcohol became illegal Paul Castellano and Carlo started their own bootlegging empire, Carlo was reported as a driver on occasions. Carlo Gambino soon met Giuseppe Masseria and went to work with him on bootlegging business. By the 1930s, Masseria and a Sicilian-Camorra member Salvatore Maranzano sparked The Castellammarese War. Charles Luciano told Gambino that he was about to kill Maranzano and Masseria and spared Gambino as an Associate of his. On 15 April, 1931 Luciano met with Masseria to a restaurant as Luciano excused himself Gambino, Bugsy Siegel, Vito Genovese and Joe Adonis shot Masseria to death. Giuseppe Masseria's men soon turned on Luciano's side, later Salvatore Maranzano was stabbed and shot to death in his building office. Carlo Gambino's Power Carlo Gambino soon met Vincent Mangano in Brooklyn and was appointed as Boss of Mangano's racket business and also numbers. In 1931, Gambino became a Caporegime and appointed Paul Castellano in his crew. In 1932, Gambino married Catherine Castellano and later raised 3 children which created a closer bond to Paul Castellano. In 1937, Carlo Gambino was arrested and convicted of tax evasion but got off with a suspended sentence. By 1951, Gambino became a very well known figure in Organized Crime in America. Vincent Mangano also disappeared that same year and was pronounced dead and many suspected that Albert Anastasia and Gambino plotted Mangano's killing. Albert Anastasia became Boss, Anastasia was one of the most feared Mobsters during the 1950s and was also Boss of Murder, Inc.. In 1956, Anastasia appointed Gambino as his Underboss and became jealous of Anastasia that he was boss. Gambino was determined to kill Anastasia and so he alledgly did succesfully. Anastasia was later shot to death at Park Sheraton Hotel's Barber while having a shave and today is one of the most known Mafia assassinations. Carlo Gambino renamed the Mangano family, The Gambino family and at age 55 he achieved Boss. During his reign, Gambino expanded his family into Gambling, Construction, Rackets, Loansharking and Fraud. Gambino arranged Tommy Gambino to marry Thomas Lucchese's daughter which created a bigger alliance and took Gambino closer to Airline Rackets along with Tommy Lucchese. Carlo soon invested in Legit businesses like Clothing and Trucks. By the 1960s, the Gambino family had around 850 men and 25 crews in New York and soon Don Carlo became Boss of Bosses in American La Cosa Nostra. Frank Sinatra If Carlo Gambino did hang out in New York, He would attend and see Frank Sinatra sing live. Sinatra invited Gambino and his men backstage where he discussed his career was falling down. Gambino later fixed and shaped Sinatra's music career. The FBI kept records amounting to 2,403 pages on Sinatra and also kept Sinatra on surveillance through the 1940s and 1990s. Family Gambino had many cousins in Sicily. One of them, Maria Gambino, eventually married Salvatore Biondo, a relative of Joseph Biondo. Gambino's distant cousin John Gambino, born in Sicily 1940, is currently one of the 3 bosses running the Gambino crime family. Death and burial Gambino died of a heart attack on October 15, 1976 at his home. Unverified Mob rumours at the time went so far as to suggest that a rival ordered his spies within the Gambino family to persuade Gambino to take a swine-flu shot, knowing that a frail individual with a heart ailment and hardening of the arteries might succumb. According to federal sources, Gambino did get his flu shot shortly before his death. He was buried in Saint John's Cemetery, Queens in New York City, as was Charles Luciano, and more than ten other lifetime friends. His funeral was said to have been attended by at least 2,000 people, including police officers, judges and politicians. Gambino left behind sons Thomas, Joseph and Carlo, daughter Phyllis Sinatra, and a family with a crew of 1,000 soldiers, after leading the Gambino crime family for 20 years, and The Commission for more than 15. Residence Gambino's permanent residence was a modest house located at 2230 Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, New York. Gambino's first Long Island residence, at 34 Club Drive in Massapequa, served as his summer home. The two-story brick house, surrounded by a low fence with marble statues on the front lawn, was at the end of a cul-de-sac in Harbor Green Estates, over looking South Oyster Bay. Gambino also maintained the house next door as a residence for his bodyguard. Later, Gambino moved to an estate bordering Jones Creek on Whitewood Drive, in the Bar Harbour Estates neighborhood in Massapequa Park, where he resided until his death in 1976. People Murdered by Carlo Gambino Order: No.Name/Rank/Affiliation/When/Involvement/Reason 1.Giuseppe Masseria/Boss/Masseria crime family/April 15th 1931/Planned it with Charles Luciano and others/To end the Castellamarase war. 2.Albert Anastasia/Boss/Gambino crime family/October 25th 1957/Ordered It/ to become boss of the Gambino crime family. 3.James Squillante/Soldier/Gambino crime family/October 23rd 1960/Ordered It/ Squilante was murdered because he was an Anastasia loyalist and a potential threat to gambino's power. 4.Thomas Eboli/Capo/Genovese crime family/July 16th 1972/Ordered It/ Eboli was killed because he owed Gambino and Castellano $4million and refused to pay it back. 5.James McBratney/Associate/Irish Mob/May 22nd 1973/Ordered It/ for kidnapping and murdering Gambino's nephew Emmanuel. 6.Carmine Scialo/Soldier/Colombo crime family/October 1974/Ordered It/ For disrespecting Gambino. Popular culture In the 1996 TV film Gotti, Gambino is portrayed by Marc Lawrence as the head of the Gambino family towards his death in 1976. In the 2001 TV film Boss of bosses, Gambino is portrayed by Al Ruscio, was showed from his early years in the Cosanostra till his death when Paul Castellano was chosen to succeed him. "The Godfather" was one of Gambino's nicknames and possibly the origin of the title of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather. A GTA IV character called Jon Gravelli is heavily based on Carlo Gambino due to almost identical looks and being the boss of the most powerful family on the game called the Gambetti. category:Gambino Crime Family category:Bosses Category:Gambino Bosses Category:Gambino Underbosses Category:Gambino Capos